Iran carries out its threat .. International confirmation of its high stockpile of enriched uranium

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed on Monday that Iran has carried out its threat to exceed the uranium enrichment threshold stipulated in its nuclear agreement with world powers, as it stockpiled more than the agreement set.

"We can confirm that IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano told the IAEA Board of Governors that on July 1, Iran exceeded the maximum allowable amount of enriched uranium (under the agreement)," an IAEA spokesman said in a statement.

Reuters reported that a report sent by the IAEA to member states indicated that Iran stockpiled 205 kilograms (low-enriched uranium), while the limit stipulated in the nuclear agreement is 202.8 kilograms.

New threat
In parallel, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in remarks broadcast by the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation that his country would enrich uranium above a 3.67 percent purity if European countries failed to salvage the nuclear deal signed by Tehran with world powers in 2015.

3.67% enrichment is described as suitable for civilian nuclear power generation, but exceeding it is the first step in a process that could eventually lead to the production of a higher purity material that can be used to make a nuclear warhead.

In previous comments today, Zarif confirmed that the Iranian stockpile exceeded three hundred kilograms of uranium hexafluoride (UF6). Three hundred kilograms of UF6 equals 202.8 kg of LEU.

Zarif said his country had previously said it would go along that path unless European countries signatories to the agreement can fulfill their commitments to salvage the deal, which the United States pulled out last year.

"We consider that we have the right to do so within the framework of what is permitted by the joint comprehensive plan of action," the Iranian minister said, the official name of the international agreement on Iran's nuclear program.

However, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Iran's steps to reduce its obligations under the nuclear deal "can be reversed."

Britain calls on Iran to return
Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called on Iran to return to its commitment to the nuclear deal and to avoid any further steps.

"We are committed to the nuclear agreement with Iran, and we are using all diplomatic means to reduce tension in the region," Hunt said.

The signatory powers held talks in Vienna on Friday, but Tehran said European countries had not provided them with enough trade support to persuade them to stop transgressing the uranium enrichment threshold set out in the nuclear deal.

Iran has taken the decision to reduce its obligations under the deal after the United States withdrew from it last year and returned it to impose sanctions on Tehran.

Accelerate the pace
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi urged European countries on Monday to speed up their efforts to salvage the deal, and state television was quoted as saying that "time is running out for them to salvage the agreement."

In response to US President Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal in May 2018 and the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran, Tehran announced on May 8 that it no longer felt bound by the agreement that its reserves should not exceed heavy water 130 tons, and its stockpile of low-enriched uranium 300 kilograms.

Tehran is also threatening to resume its uranium enrichment activities at a rate higher than that set by the agreement (3.67 percent), starting July 7, and relaunching its project to build the heavy water Arak reactor in the center of the country if other signatories Agreement (Germany, China, France, Britain, Russia) to circumvent US sanctions.